Simon Cowell will turn Wembley into a giant casino for a roulette-based game show which could raise concerns that ITV is encouraging gambling. Seven contestants will be offered the chance to walk away with £1m or nothing – in Red or Black?, produced by Cowell's SyCo television company, in partnership with ITV.

In what has become one of Britain's most acrimonious and high-profile divorce battles, including walk-on roles for Simon Cowell and Sir Philip Green, a couple at war over a £400m "missing fortune" has been given six months to "cool off" after a week of bitter exchanges in the High Court.

Hey, hey, The Monkees are re-forming. Comebacks of 1960s pop legends are sometimes depressing affairs, done more for money than music. But this is one reunion that deserves to be welcomed because The Monkees have an important place in pop history.

As the squeeze tightens, families all over Britain will be looking around for a little financial miracle to help them out. Some will be taking advantage of our newly liberated gambling laws. A few might dream of coming up with a clever invention which will triumph on Dragons' Den. Some might be looking wistfully to the older generation – surely there must be a few pennies there.

She is only 10 years old and has already been hailed as the next Mariah Carey and Justin Bieber rolled into one. Now, after taking the internet by a storm, the Canadian has become the latest talent to be signed by Simon Cowell.

Whether this comes in time to save the music industry from its ongoing implosion remains to be seen, but in some regards, this year the Brit Awards almost got things right. The attempt to come to terms with the broader constituency of music lovers should be applauded.